Shirley Hughes
English illustrator and author
Wandering around with my sketchbook in some lovely Italian town.
When were you happiest?
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
In the one photo I’ve seen where my smile looks convincing – I’m four years old, so I’m guessing then. But I just won a Bafta and that felt amazing, too. So, roughly every 40 years.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 June 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →In the hospital when my children were born.
Bradley Wiggins
British former professional road and track racing cyclist
When my second child Bella was born in 2006. I missed my son Ben being born because I was racing, so seeing it for the first time was quite an experience.
On a beach, watching my girls do cartwheels, with a Goombay Smash with a floater on top.
More from Adam Kay
View profile →A comedy gig at an army barracks for thousands of angry, horny squaddies just back from six months in the desert. I was on straight after the stripper.
I’ve never been upgraded on a plane.
A reviewer once called me “artistically bankrupt”, and it doesn’t feel like reviews can get much worse than that.
I could have done without being sexually assaulted, or having an eating disorder, or pushing myself to breaking point, but every chapter of my life brought me here.
People who barge into a lift instead of standing aside for anyone exiting should be dipped in kerosene and fired into the sun.
Self-destruction.
More on time & hindsight
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- What scares you about getting older? 61 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 28 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 23 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 23 answers
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